User blog:Xaero Dumort/"Synthetics" as applied to the ending and the sentence that nullifies IT.
Everything below is one man's opinion and own analysis at attempts to reconcile certain aspects that did not sit well with him as presented by the fans or BioWare. Let's start with the simple one. Disproving IT in one sentence. "Warning: Indoctrinated presence detected." Uttered by a VI able to detect indoctrination and only goes off when Kai Leng enters the scene. If Shepard was indoctrinated then it wouldn't have even wasted time talking to him. At any time. There is no arguing this fact as to do so would completely nullify any argument you would have for Shepard being indoctrinated. As for synthetic and how it applies to the ending choices, that is bad writing, but helps put things into a better perspective. Control: Control Reapers Synthesis: Meld synthetic and organic life Destroy: Destroy synthetics So then the question becomes, what is the definition of synthetic in terms of the Mass Effect universe? There are two answers. Depending on if you choose Synthesis or Destroy. How there can be two answers or one will be addressed further on. Synthesis - Synthetic in this instance means all machines. Literally all machines. everything becomes a biomechanical organism of some sort. Ignoring how it might be possible (as this is just one of those sci-fi cliches that has been used quite often) it becomes a question of what does that mean for things like power drills and spaceships. Are they sentient now? Or are they inert in the same fashion as lichen is? That steps a bit away from the point. The point is... Synthesis - Every machine is a synthetic. OK. I can accept that. The parts of Shepard working with and as part of his organics help make the idea of a "melding" a little easier to swallow as it seems he becomes the template for the happening. What about Destroy? Destroy - Synthetic here means any AI and Shepard's implants. Maybe VI and maybe others who have implants. All of a sudden not all machines are affected by the Crucible? What makes this beam different? If the beam can be calibrated to this point, why can't it be taken a step further and save not only Shepard and the geth? Does this mean the people living in the one computer are now also dead? Did Shepard just kill two civilizations as well as dooming and killing countless others with implants or the inability to have a VI? So we have (apparently) - Control: Reapers Synthesis: All machines (and organics) Destroy: Reapers, geth, Shepard (maybe VI, other people and the computer aliens) So how do we rectify this? Pretty easily actually, and it would have answered a few questions that they pose and help a few things be easier to swallow for some. The answer lies in what the Crucible is and what Control does. Manipulates Reapers. Let's look at how it could be done first as a list then with my opinionated explanations. Control: Reapers and Reaper code Synthesis: Proliferate Reaper code and tech (they are biomechanical) Destroy: Destroy Reapers and Reaper code and tech So first Control. If we look at what it really (should) mean, it allows Shepard to be integrated into the Reaper network as code and allows for the manipulation of it and everything under its effect. That would mean Reapers, geth and Cerberus troops. Next Synthesis. Reaper code and tech is proliferated. Why do the Reapers stop attacking? Because all life in the universe is now Reaper. Finally Destroy. Reaper code is effectively deleted and Reaper tech is set to self-terminate. So? How does any of that have anything to do with Shepard? It could have just as easily been Anderson or Liara or Garrus, etc. had things gone slightly different. Two words: Project Lazarus. Shepard is dead for two years. Not taking into account body death, but BRAIN death. Ignoring the latter for a moment, how do you repair a body? How did Illusive Man have the technology? He didn't. The science just wasn't there in the ME universe at the time to do that. But it could be found. In Sovereign. Shepard is put back together with Reaper tech. That's the implication we are given through ME2 and ME3. The main clue? The fact that he came back from zero brain activity. A miraculous moment. One that even during that time, no species in the Milky Way is capable of performing. But if Reaper tech and code, something inherently biomechanical is at work, it could not only revive Shepard, but reboot and reconnect everything in his brain. So I stipulate that Shepard is running on Reaper code and tech now. As well as we look at Project Lazarus and Project Phoenix, both deal with revival and at that point have another connection with dealing with using Reaper tech. The success of Shepard and his revival and integration of Reaper code allowed the Illusive Man to find ways to adapt it to his troops after/during the events of ME2. Wouldn't all this support indoctrination? It would. If it weren't for two things. 1. The geth use Reaper code without ill effect once liberated from Reaper control. The Reaper code as we are shown is just like neuro-cells. 2. The code itself protects him from indoctrination as he is seen as "Reaper". This leads to why the geth can't be re-hacked as it were. Beyond just being prepared for it, they now have the capability to essentially blend. Therefore, here is how and why the different things work/how they should have had they just followed their clues and used the word(s) Reaper (*blank*). Control: Shepard's Reaper code is uploaded to all other Reaper devices and allows for manipulation. Synthesis: Shepard's Reaper code is proliferated and integrates into all organic and mechanical essences as Reaper code does both. (geth and indoctrination) Destroy: Shepard's Reaper code executes a terminate command. Everything with Reaper code terminates. Shepard, geth, Reapers. So by simply following things to a logical conclusion, the hints and more, simply using Reaper and Reaper code/tech in place of synthetic by the Catalyst helps things make a little more sense. But maybe I'm just reaching. It helps me feel better though. But if Shepard has Reaper code, as do indoctrinated individuals, then why is he not declared to be indoctrinated or otherwise by the VI as Kai Leng is? This has to do more with how the code is operating and signals and such being given off. Best metaphor I can think of at the moment is, I can ride in a wheelchair and not be paralyzed. Shepard's code just as the geth code, is different enough not to be seen as Reaper because of the adaptions that have been made artificially or naturally, by the VI yet still similar enough to be affected by the Crucible. Like a mutating virus of sorts. Shepard is patient zero with enough immunity, the geth have adapted it and the Reapers are the disease. So an anti-virus would still work on all of them. 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